Earth's ecosystems are collapsing, human and all species' habitats are being lost, and our one shared biosphere is failing and dying. Love of other peoples and species and of nature, truth, justice, and equity are the only lasting basis for global ecological sustainability

We ask this of all those concerned- is there no other way in which the just demands of a community along with their right to establish a safe and secure life? Is it unlawful in a democratic system to raise questions against a development program that strikes at the base of life and livelihood using the most illegal and undemocratic means possible? What did we do to warrant such a violent and aggressive reaction and response from the Government? Do we not deserve a space for a decent dialogue that will answer our concerns and anxieties about our own life?

It is really unbelievable! Nearly 3 months passed since deadly factory collapse on 24 April, no compensation for the families of the killed and injured has been declared, not to say payment of that to thousands of families living now in utter distress

Referring to the US government is increasingly becoming as challenging as ordering coffee in Seattle: “Petro–imperial, coal–fired, plutocratic, oligarchic, inverted totalitarian, fascist, propagandist Big Brother, with democracy on the side.” Things are beginning to simplify though. Soon you’ll be able to refer to the US government with one single word—the Borg

There is a United States federal law on the books, what I call the "18:1" law, that is, in its effect, as viciously racist as the old and now thoroughly discredited Jim Crow laws that explicitly discrminated against black people. This law, a key part of the legal framework for the War on Drugs, is one way that the U.S. Government veils its racism so as not to be obvious to the wider general public

But researchers from Harvard University have created a new alternative for synthetic plastic. Javier Fernandez and Donald Ingber of Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering have found their muse in the most successful of organisms: arthropods. Many invertebrates like crabs, beetles, and snails, are armored with cuticles that are not only strong, but flexible and light due to evolutionary pressures. As a result, they are a rich basis for natural plastics

The June 30th Egyptian revolution had been over-analyzed, scrutinized, criticized, mislabeled, and distorted by many writers, analysts, politicians, and governments. This was a national Intifada (uprising) through which Egyptians had expressed their will in purely democratic means

In the wake of the military coup of July 3rd 2013, the question that is on the lips of many people is what is going to happen now in Egypt? How will the situation evolve? What is the future of the 80 million people who live in that ancient land?

The 2011 drought and the resulting famine in East Africa killed 100,000 people and sent food prices soaring. But reversing the devastating effects of climate change is possible. Sand dams can offer a cost-effective and sustainable solution to mitigating the impacts of climate change, the desertification of drylands and enabling green economic growth in dryland countries

The continuous blunders by armed forces in Kashmir or Northeast India reveal the non-professional approach of Indian soldiers/policemen. It goes without saying that, soldiering/policing today is not just neutralising the enemy, but encompasses safeguarding lives of citizens and changing anti-national perceptions by building bridges of peace and harmony

Over the years the meta narrative in India about origin of 2001 Parliament attack is filled with unidirectional flow of information that want us to believe that it was an operation planned from across the border and executed by terror modules in India .But the recent revelation by one of the former CBI officers that this attack as also the 2008 infamous carnage in Mumbai was actually orchestrated by agencies to enable Government to strengthen the counter intelligence laws nails this lie

At least 20 people, including women and children were injured when police attacked peaceful protesters agitating against Nitta Gelatin India Limited (NGIL) at Kathikudam, in Thrissur district of Kerala in South India. Police went on a rampage and ransacked houses of villagers and damaged vehicles parked in the area. According to eyewitnesses the police attacked the protesters without any provocation

Mr. Rupesh, the State Advisor of the Honorable Supreme Court's Commissioner, Mr. Sanjay Kumar, senior researcher and Mr. Naim, a school teacher visited Dharmasati Gandaman, Saran on July 18, 2013, after the death of 23 school children and hospitalization of more than fifty school children due to consumption of mid day meal on July 16, 2013.

To demand justice for Trayvon Martin, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in more than 100 cities across the US on July 20, a week after George Zimmerman was cleared of murdering unarmed black teenager Martin

The conflict over what will be the future of the mostly black, and almost entirely working class, people who live in Detroit is not hard to understand. It is a conflict between the few haves versus the many have-nots

“As for a motive, the West wants to cut off arms supply routes through Syria to Hezbollah and to be able to stage bases in Northern Syrian for offense against Iran both with planes and missiles. That is the military reason. They also want to block Iran's long term pipeline access to the Mediterranean Sea that way, in case Turkey had a change of heart over running the lines into their system. And the Saudis and Qatar both want a land route to the Mediterranean over territory they effectively control”

All the monsters of history are to be found among the absolute leaders exercising absolute power in disregard of the interests of people. Since the Washington-based major war complex orchestrated the bogus War on Terrorism, American politics in one-sided syndrome for unknown present and futuristic disasters. If America cannot deal with its own domestic problems of unusual violence, killings of the innocent, natural disasters and fear-mongering politics, how could it be helpful to others in global political domains?

It is shameful that academic institutions where the freedom of expression and dissent should be honored are becoming highly intolerant to criticism. Each philosophy and ideology failed here because the caste and religious prejudices. The arrogance of being ‘powerful’ and ‘twice born’ still exist in our society

During the phone call, Kerry reportedly made the following threats: To ground any and all Venezuelan airplanes flying in American or NATO airspace upon any suspicion that Snowden may be on board, including the flights of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. “Immunity is for the president, not for the plane,” Kerry said

A reporter for The New York Times will have to testify against a CIA official accused of leaking classified information to him, according to a split decision by an appeals court in Virginia . In effect, the decision removes a critical protection for journalists who report on government activity. The court ruled that the First Amendment provides no protection to reporters who receive unauthorized leaks from being forced to testify against the alleged sources who leaked to them

President Obama gave a talk to the nation about Trayvon Martin and the trial of George Zimmerman. Obama acknowledged a number of depressing facts about race and crime and poverty, and how these facts cause terrible outcomes like the death of Trayvon Martin. But Obama never mentined who is responsible for these depressing facts

Today, former President Jimmy Carter proclaimed that the United States has ceased to be a Democratic nation. "America does not have a functioning democracy at this point in time." Carter said speaking at a closed-door event in Atlanta covered by German newspaper Der Spiegel. Carter also criticized the NSA's domestic spying as damaging to the core of the nation's principles

The revolutionary path, upon which this movement has embarked in Egypt, may have only just begun. Social transitions are slow and complex and the outcomes unpredictable, but all movements have to begin somewhere

Had Ilavarasan known all this, he would not have turned into a dead body found near a railway track in Dharmapuri. Had Rizwanur known all this, he would not have turned into another dead body found near rail tracks some 3000 kms away from Dharmapuri. But then, his sentence was decided the day he had pleaded guilty of falling in love with a girl belonging to a different, and so called upper, caste

A dead Khalid Mujahid, who lies buried in his native village, is proving to be the undoing of the mighty Mulayam Singh Yadav 'led' government. It has been more than two months that Khalid Mujahid - who along with Tariq Qasmi was languishing in jail for more than five years, for a 'crime' he never committed, as proved by the state government appointed Nimesh commission itself - died a mysterious death in police custody, (18 th May 2013) but this issue is still hogging headlines in a section of the regional media

U.S. whistleblower and international hero Bradley Manning has just been awarded the 2013 Sean MacBride Peace Award by the International Peace Bureau, itself a former recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, for which Manning is a nominee this year

Thousands of inmates across California are entering their twelfth day of a hunger strike—the largest in state history—that has spread to over two-thirds of the state’s 33 prisons and to the four out-of-state for-profit facilities utilized by the state. Inmates began refusing meals on July 8 to protest inhumane prison conditions and the use of indefinite solitary confinement practices

In this interview, which Shourd dedicates to Herman Wallace, we take a closer look at her project, Opening the Box, as well as the ongoing prisoner hunger strike in California, the Angola 3 case, and the politics of prisons in the US

Change is afoot. Confronted with state corruption and corporate greed, abuse of human rights, environmental chaos and extreme levels of economic and social injustice, the people, overwhelmingly the young are taking to the streets demanding change, and a new political/economic system, that is inclusive and just

Climate crisis leads majority of citizens in the Philippines to say they are concerned about global warming while a research finds 80% of rainforests in Malaysia have been degraded by logging that “contributes” to climate crisis

Turkey is beefing up its military presence near Syria border while the US is considering the use of military force in Syria and the former UK Army chief said: We risk war with Syria . At the same time, there is report that Libyan weapons and foreign fighters are fuelling blood shed in Syria

The cabinet decided to double the natural gas prices from $4.2 to $8.4 per million British thermal unit in an unprecedented decision last week; the price increase will be effective from the next financial year beginning April 1, 2014. Since the hike is in dollars and rupee is currently running at a historic low, the actual raise in rupee terms is more than two and a half times. It is quite shocking for a government to make this kind of a drastic hike in an election year, that too for a commodity that is a basic input as a household fuel, for power production, as well as fertiliser. Consequently it will have an all round adverse effect on the common people who are in any case in dire straits given the unparalleled inflation in recent years

The news of three deaths of sanitation workers in sewage line at the prime location of Indira Gandhi National Centre for Art (IGNCA) in Delhi on July 14th, has passed off ‘peacefully’ as the country is ‘busy’ in many things and media has no time to raise the issue as these are not ‘political deaths’, to raise pitch on our studios

Please think of us and come visit us when you can.Remember the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy against the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant is gaining momentum and not dying.It is not and will never be a losing battle. Because it has raised the real questions on justice and human welfare

The silence is overwhelming. The declamations of the administration and the right wing of civil society loud. The government of Orissa, the Sangh Parivar, scores of major NGOs and a section of the church have for a long time now exhorted the Christian community of Kandhamal, Orissa, to forget about the violence that hit them in 2008, and to “move on”, so that development can take place in the remote district which is in the news, not for religious persecution any more, but for the Maoists who inhabit the dense Sal forests

The Union Minister of Tribal Affairs, V Kishore Chandra Deo, promised complete support from his ministry to ensure that the Forest Rights Act (FRA) is upheld in Mahan, Madhya Pradesh. The Minister addressed a joint press conference with Mahan Sangharsh Samiti (MSS) and Greenpeace in Delhi on July 19, 2013.

At least four people were shot dead and nearly 40 injured in Jammu and Kashmir's Ramban area during clashes with Border Security Force (BSF).While officials maintained four had died, locals claimed the toll was six

A report issued by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Wednesday details an immense operation through which nearly 1 billion license plate records of hundreds of millions of drivers are tracked and huge databases are amassed, providing the American government with access to the history and recent whereabouts of the majority of the US population

The physical ability to defend yourself does not exist in a vacuum, and it means nothing if you don't have a meaningful right to do so. After this verdict, it is even clearer that Black people do not have that right in the United States, as Bill Fletcher Jr. has written. If Trayvon had been the one armed, and shot Zimmerman, he would have been doomed - if he wasn't killed by police during the arrest, he would have been virtually guaranteed a guilty verdict in a trial

The news agency declared that it was a ‘rare interview’ of yours taken at your official Gandhinagar residence. It shocked me immensely as you were not talking as an ordinary Indian citizen but as the chief minister of Gujarat, a constitutional position under the democratic-secular constitution of India. I am taking the liberty of writing this letter to you in the hope that you, who claim to be believer in transparency, will respond to the issues I raise

The President of India is the senior-most servant, soldier, protector and Dharma Yodha of the Constitution of India. Therefore, I, humbly appeal to you to initiate appropriate steps to prevent and neutralize any move from Government or non-governmental groups or persons, from impeding CBI investigation in Ishrat Jahan encounter case and other fake encounter cases in Gujarat. Any action to anoint IB officials, accused of collaboration in fake encounters, with the oil of innocence, violating the procedure established by law and through illegal extraneous pressure, would result in IB degenerating into India’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI)

One feels that while fighting for justice for Ilavarsan and for justice in Pabnava case, it is high time that we deliberate on all these and related issues which are of key importance for the further evolution of the dalit movement

Edward Snowden, the NSA whistleblower sought temporary asylum in Russia by filing an official request. The Russian Migration Service confirmed it has received whistleblower Edward Snowden’s application for temporary asylum. It can take authorities up to three months to consider his request. In the meantime, Snowden may be transferred to a refugee center

Denise Lind, the judge hearing the case against Bradley Manning, said that she would decide on Thursday whether to dismiss seven of the charges which the defense claims have not been sufficiently proven by the prosecution. These include allegations that Manning aided “the enemy” when he released hundreds of thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks in 2010

Pacific Island states have agreed to redouble efforts to secure agreement for a climate change compensation scheme at UN climate talks. Leaders from 17 island nations met in Fiji last week for a four-day Pacific Island Roundtable summit to discuss how best to cope with rising sea levels and increased incidences of drought

The past century’s foolish management of water would not have happened in a steady state economy. But today’s globalized, growth-obsessed economy allows, and even subsidizes, construction firms and power companies to profit by destroying significant water resources that are critical for people’s survival

Not even the most paranoid amongst us would have imagined the extent of the US government’s violation of the very privacy laws that itself helped draft, promote and swore to protect. The Snowden leak revealed aspects of the NSA’s unwarranted practices, but what else is still being concealed? And what is the ultimate goal of the US government when it spies potentially on every citizen and every government?

At a personal level, we must understand why Barack Obama is violent and support him to find the courage to travel the journey of emotional healing because, like all perpetrators of violence, he was terrorised and brutalised as a child. At a political level, those of us committed to ending human violence must nonviolently resist his killing and his exploitation

Despite a lot of dissimilarities between Iran and Turkey the two countries are now facing an emerging broad similarity. With visible signs an approach to change is steadily emerging in these two societies

The latest row between L.K.Advani & Omar Abdullah over the abrogation of Article 370 is a case of left-over refrigated dish being reheated to be served afresh for a new feast-that is election 2014 through which the former aspires to become prime Minister while the latter, otherwise battling hard, to retain his chief Minsterial post. BJP Spokesman has even gone to the extent of saying that this article will be removed from the Indian Constitution once it comes to power

I will only say to our police and paramilitary forces that there work is important but unless they work with the people and understand their sentiments, they would only be outsiders and people will distrust them

Indian authorities should expedite investigations and nail down the culprit or culprits in the shortest possible time. As long as their identity is not known and the motives for the heinous act are not established clearly, rumours and suspicions will continue to gain currency. They will poison relations between Buddhists and people of other faiths not only in India but also in other parts of the world

Stefan Svallfors, a professor of sociology at Sweden's Umeå University has nominated NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden for the Nobel Peace Prize for revealing the extent of the NSA's vast surveillance program "in a heroic effort at great personal cost."

Revelation of the Snowden files is just a beginning. People who have been asleep are now awakening. Yes We the People Can. This time we are participating in world events to determine policies that affect our own future. Snowden's act of courage has brought true hope and has reminded us of our own significance

US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns arrived in Cairo for two days of talks with the leaders of Egypt’s new military-backed government, amid reports that the US Navy has despatched ships and Marines to the Red Sea Coast

Greenhouse gases emitted today might raise sea level significantly for centuries to come, said an international study. The study was conducted for the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). Researchers from Germany, the US, Spain, Canada and Austria contributed to the research

Israeli officials have cleared soldiers of wrongdoing when they detained a five-year-old boy in Hebron after he threw a rock at a settler's car - though later the kid said he was aiming for a dog - arguing they never formally arrested him. No, they just him grabbed as he screamed and cried, took the terrified kid to his home, handcuffed and blindfolded his father evidently for the crime of being his father, and handed them over to Palestinian Police, thus helping answer Israelis' oft-asked, unfathomably clueless question: Why do they hate us?

Far more than a symptom named George Zimmerman faced judgment last week. Our entire belief system was on trial and each of us remains on trial. Before a final verdict is reached, we must ask ourselves: In this global crime spree called “our way of life,” will I be an accomplice or will be a monkey-wrencher? Reminder: Complacent = Complicit. There is no neutral. I’ll see you on the streets, comrades…

George Zimmerman has been found innocent of both second-degree murder and manslaughter for the killing of Trayvon Martin. On the other hand, Trayvon has been found guilty. In dropping all charges against Zimmerman, the jury concluded that Trayvon had thrown the first punch in response to Zimmerman's threatening behavior, and therefore Zimmerman was justified in shooting him in self-defense

There is nothing new or surprising about the way “Allama” Ahmad Shafi, the chief of the Hefazat-e-Islam ( HeI ) recently denigrated women in a recorded public speech in the most ludicrous, vulgar and comical way. He is not the first “ allama ” to denigrate women, comparing them with mouthwatering tamarind and undermining them only as object of sex and procreation

In pushing KKNPP to criticality before democratically and transparently addressing concerns regarding safety, health and financial costs and nuclear accident liability, the direct responsibility of the Prime Minister of India who heads DAE, and the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, is total. This is mentioned to state the enormity of the decision to press ahead with commissioning KKNPP, and the possible verdict of irresponsibility from future generations who will have to pay the costs in terms of health and genetic disorders, and also loss of lives, land and sea-based livelihoods due to radioactive fallout

The shifting of public distribution system from universal to target is market policy of development governance, and the parties in power in the country have accepted this. The problem is not just a shifting from universal to targeted PDS, the problem is the manner in which the Act is being presented to the public. It is not a bill to protect the right of the people; rather it is the justification of privatisation of right of food

On Friday, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) released a memorandum setting forth new “guidelines” concerning government surveillance of members of the press. “These revised guidelines will help ensure the proper balance is struck when pursuing investigations into unauthorized disclosures,” announced Attorney General Eric Holder

Whoever these potential whistlelblowers are, it is clear that Obama fears them, and that the US government has many secrets. But if it has many secrets, then the present government of the United States cannot be a democracy. In a democracy, the people must know what their government is doing

It is understandable that you are requesting temporary asylum in Russia, given the determination of President Obama to mount an international crusade to apprehend you and throw you in prison. But here are ten reasons why it is in your interest, and the world's, to find a route to Venezuela as soon as possible

It is indeed distressing to witness that India has rejected Edward Snowden's asylum application despite its growing stature among the comity of nations and adopted a lackadaisical approach that does not behove of an independent and sovereign nation's foreign policy architecture

No he was not sincere, except that he laid out his insincerity for all to see. The mysteries for all ages are (1) Why did he make it obvious? (2) Why were we still blind? The ultimate in hypocrisy, publicly acknowledged on the first day of his Presidency. What fools we are!

So Mr. Modi’s comment must be properly translated in its cultural context, not in terms of Hindi to English. With respect to Muslims, he said, ‘Kuttay ka bachcha’…for which the closest correct English translation would be ‘son-of-a-bitch’, spoken with a snarl in the tone

Koodankulam Nuclear power plant in south Tamil Nadu attained criticality on Saturday midnight, inspite of the protest of local people and anti-nuclear activists. The plant is getting commissioned six years after the scheduled date

A jury has found George Zimmerman not guilty of all charges in connection to death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. But while the verdict came as a surprise to some people, it makes perfect sense to others. This verdict is a crystal-clear illustration of the way white supremacy operates in America

There is a strange unplanned irony to history. Events that relate to each other often occur simultaneously. In this case, the not guilty verdict of George Zimmerman is paired with the public disgrace of Paula Deen. Both offended public sensibilities by reminding Americans of a time thought to be long passed. In Zimmerman’s case it was the days of extra-legal lynching and in Deen’s the days when a kind of “cracker-culture” ruled the South and was admired by mainstream Americans

Protests by different sections of society are continuing in Turkey . Journalists in Istanbul demonstrated under the banner of the “Journalists' Platform” to protest the continual violence, pressure and threats they have faced at the hands of the police since the Gezi Park protests began

I received your request recently (copy below) for a "thank you" to President Obama for his climate change program. Big mistake. President Obama is very clever at creating illusions that he is finally on the road to "change.." But a baking earth is not an illusion. He and apparently Audubon are leading us down another primrose path. His plan is very unlikely to result in significantly reduced CO2 emissions beyond what would have occurred regardless. Why?

The familiar refrain that the new wealth would “trickle down” and “create jobs” was lost in dodgy merger deals and “restructuring” that cost jobs. For foreign companies, a black face on the board often ensured that nothing had changed. In 2001, George Soros told the Davos Economic Forum, “South Africa is in the hands of international capital.”

Newly released documents reveal the depth of collaboration between Microsoft and the National Security Agency in collecting data from the company’s users, including communications and documents sent or accessed over Outlook.com, SkyDrive and Skype. They also show that Microsoft worked with the NSA to break the company’s own encryption, ensuring the fullest possible access for the agency

I did what I believed right and began a campaign to correct this wrongdoing. I did not seek to enrich myself. I did not seek to sell US secrets. I did not partner with any foreign government to guarantee my safety. Instead, I took what I knew to the public, so what affects all of us can be discussed by all of us in the light of day, and I asked the world for justice

Earlier this month, as Americans celebrated our Independence Day holiday, the true scope of American independence became visible. The revelations of Edward Snowden, and the elite reaction to those revelations show that Americans are not a truly free and independent people, our major media are not free or independent, and neither are the supposedly sovereign nations of Europe free or independent states

India's Home Ministry cancelled the FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulations Act) registration of the Indian Social Action Forum, INSAF, even though INSAF acted compliant to the human rights defenders' rights and responsibilities recognised also by India in UN declaration on human rights defenders' rights

This is another sordid tale of Rohingya refugees--who fled Myanmar--in India, sheltering around 11000 Myanmarese refugees (a figure obtained from the UNHCR). In June and October 2012, Indian cities-- Jammu, Delhi, and Hyderabad-- and the state of Mizoram saw the influx of Rohingya Muslims. The trickle still continues. In Madanapur Kahdar locality of Delhi, around 200 Rohingyas, tortured and persecuted by military junta and Buddhists, reside in a makeshift camp

Human-caused outdoor air pollution takes more than two million lives worldwide each year, finds a new study. The study shows that this has a minimal effect and only accounts for a small proportion of current deaths related to air pollution while it has been suggested that a changing climate can exacerbate the effects of air pollution and increase death rates

Anybody reading this article hoping to find evidence that slavery in the United States wasn't really that bad, or that nothing in the present day United States deserves to be called "the new Jim Crow," should stop reading, because that's not what this article is about

American philosopher and political author James H. Fetzer believes that the United States is openly supporting Al-Qaeda and the extremist Salafist and Takfiri groups in Syria and equipping the rebels and insurgents inside the country with sophisticated weapons and arms

Does Modi consider Muslims as puppies, which are always associated with helpless creature? One of the first thing a murderer's mind would do before commit a crime is belittle or declare his/her victim worthless, by which his or her subconscious mind legitimizes the act

What is engulfing the Indian society is that certain powerful groups with vested interests who are driven either by fanaticism for their ideologies or by the lure of political mileage or by Greed-based capitalism are stifling the voice of the citizens through coercion and cruelty. As long as there is nexus between political class, plutocracy and corporate media, and a link between politicians and the vote bank, freedom of speech of common people is under threat

What has tragically replaced education, stability and employment is an increasing subservience to alcohol and drugs, with "violence, unemployment and poverty" leading to a dramatic "increase in alcohol abuse," according Younis Obeidi, a psychiatrist at the Ibn Rushd Hospital. Drugs have also become an alternative to the squalor of poverty, as the first three years of theUS/UK occupation, saw over 2 million people "living below the poverty line"

On Wednesday, the defense rested its case in the court-martial of Bradley Manning, the US Army private who has pleaded guilty to releasing 700,000 documents exposing the crimes of US imperialism to the WikiLeaks website in April 2010

The Obama administration has announced it will go ahead with the shipment of four F-16 fighter planes to the Egyptian military, signaling its intention to ignore US laws requiring a cutoff of aid to countries that have suffered military coups

Militants linked to al Qaeda in Syria killed a senior figure in the Western- and Arab-backed Free Syrian army on July 11, 2013, signalling a widening rift between Islamists and more moderate elements in the armed Syrian opposition. Moreover, interventionists have fired on hungry people

Tens of thousands of union demonstrators blocked roads in Brazil on July 11, 2013 in a one-day strike aimed at seizing the momentum of huge protests that swept the country last month. Banks and schools stayed closed. The demonstration snarled traffic in dozens of cities. A few hundred landless peasants occupied land reform institute INCRA to demand agrarian reforms

Today, for the first time human have a new situation where people are placing their life style above their children’s future. People have managed that because we are pounded with information aimed to mislead or hide the gravity of the situation, which is now more obvious in its severity and may be unstoppable next decade

The severe flooding in Southern Alberta should be a climate change wake up call - but only if Canadians and particularly Albertans understand key climate science and choose to be responsible instead of lapsing back into pervasive denial. Action is needed but first Canadians have to wake up to the scale of climate change danger and then choose to consider the scale of mitigation necessary

Challenging ecocide/working to preserve the future is not a lifestyle; it’s a compassionate and revolutionary choice. It’s also an urgent mission that requires you (activists, radicals, progressives, occupiers, etc.) to decide now: Which side are you on?

In the early morning hours, numerous street lights are on around the world long after it is no longer dark outside. Also, in the evening hours, numerous street lights are on around the world long before it is dark outside. This is a significant waste of energy and money. The street lights should be equipped with better controllers or properly adjusted timers

Non-white majority Mankind, mostly descendants of the planet‘s earliest humans educated in the arts and sciences, long plundered by savage descendants of ferocious Vikings and other primitive Germanic tribes, will soon force America, and the white Colonial Powers it leads, to pay compensation for wrongful death, injury, stolen property and natural resources as condemned by Jeremiah Wright in sermon

While it is unfortunate that the holy place associated with Lord Gautama Buddha has been targeted, one also feels that a professional unbiased investigation should be undertaken and guilty punished. What is also needed that the baseless linking of this terror attack to Rohingya Muslims be shunned till the investigations reveal something substantive

Mohamed ElBaradei, a liberal elitist with a dismal track record in service of western powers during his glamorous career as the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, is a stark example of the moral and political crisis that has befallen Egypt since the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak

Organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood would be well advised to hold off the political struggle and prioritize the bigger social project which requires an all-embracing, universalistic approach that is less exclusivist and less essentialist. This will bear upon education and the media, creating leadership for the wider community, the academy, the media, courts of law and the civil-military bureaucracy

To say that Kerala is generally doing much better relative to other states or other parts of the developing and middle income world is not good enough. Kerala has to be evaluated from the standpoint of higher standards in terms of an alternative social and ethical vision it had set for itself, long time ago

Statement by eminent citizens and organisations seeking immediate review and withdrawal of order of Ministry of Home Affairs to ‘suspend’ the FCRA account of Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF) and inquiry there on

The new medium-fertility or best-guess scenario suggests the most likely outcome is that world could gain more than 10 million people in the year 2100 and close the century at 10.9 billion. The new projections suggest a global population of 9.6 billion by 2050----about 700 million people more than the 8.9 billion the UN Population Division had projected for 2050 just 10 years ago

Private First Class Bradley Manning’s trial, at Fort Meade, Maryland, is now is in its sixth week. The defense began its case this week, but it has been hamstrung in advance by military judge Colonel Denise Lind’s ruling that Manning’s political motives were irrelevant to case, which effectively denies the defendant any ability to mount a whistleblower defense

All these courageous whistleblowers, when confronted with the truth acted to free us from the lies of corrupt power. Hope is found in the bravery of those who speak truth to power. Around the world a debate is just beginning. The collective action of informed citizens in the end will break the digital locks of this open air prism and set us free

In April 2013, the Indian government began rolling out the Central Monitoring System (CMS), which will enable the government to monitor all phone and Internet communications in the country. The CMS will provide centralized access to the country’s telecommunications network and facilitate direct monitoring of phone calls, text messages, and Internet use by government agencies, bypassing service providers

We cannot sever ourselves entirely from empire, but we can utilize both its wounding and its few admirable aspects to fall back in love with the earth and in so doing, engender a revolution in our human-beingness. This requires confronting our Enlightenment Enculturation, grappling with the shadow of Empire that will forever inhabit the psyche, and a willingness, even on our ecological deathbed, to immerse ourselves in unrestrained intimacy with the universe

The international community has long criticised Israel for the “discrimination” its Palestinian citizens face and for the “oppression” of Palestinians under occupation. This terminology needs overhauling too, say the human rights lawyers. A political system that treats one ethnic group as less human than another already has a legal name: it is called apartheid

Environmental researchers at Harvard University have published evidence that significant reductions in mercury emissions will be necessary just to stabilize current levels of the toxic element in the environment. So much mercury persists in surface reservoirs (soil, air, and water) from past pollution, going back thousands of years, that it will continue to persist in the ocean and accumulate in fish for decades to centuries, they report

Many vertebrate species would have to evolve about 10,000 times faster than they have in the past to adapt to the rapid climate change expected in the next 100 years, a study led by a University of Arizona ecologist has found

The EU-India (and EU-US) free trade talks raise two key questions. Is it right that the EU is negotiating free trade treaties in secret, while the public is kept n the dark? Is it right that big corporations are being given privileged access to negotiations?

We, the scientists, engineers, academics, doctors, surgeons and other professionals of Bangladeshi origin living abroad as well as conscientious foreign nationals and dignitaries, are very much concerned about the safety and economic viability of the proposed nuclear power plant at Rooppur

Alcoholism is becoming widespread problem in the Indian society and Tamil Nadu is no exception. The age of first exposure to alcohol in the state has dropped to 15 years. Added concern is the increasing numbers of women specially girls becoming addicted to alcohol. This trend is causing socio-economic problems but little is being done to arrest this social trend

The Egyptian army’s bloody massacre of Muslim Brotherhood (MB) protesters outside the Republican Guard barracks yesterday morning in Cairo has shattered all claims that the army is carrying out a new revolution in Egypt

In the second Coup under Obama by US-backed military against a democratically-elected government, the US-backed Egyptian military have ousted and imprisoned Egypt 's first democratically-elected president, President Mohamed Morsi, and his democratically-elected Muslim Brotherhood Government

The so-called “Arab Spring” started in Tunisia, spread through Libya and Egypt, turned into civil war in Syria. Add the invasions of Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan, and the recurring threats against Iran. Then mark those areas on a map or globe. They form a vast swath spreading from North Africa to the central Asian steppes. Which coincides nicely with the bulk of the world’s petroleum reserves, excluding Venezuela and Alberta

Twenty years ago Nelson Mandela was the Father of what became the neo-Apartheid system in South Africa and today, while laying on his death bed he has truly earned the title of Godfather of Neo-Apartheid, for what else can you call what is officially the most unequal system of social equality in the world today, modern, “Post Apartheid” South
Africa

This observer’s neighbors seemed to believe, especially over the past year, as most of us did, that the war in Syria would, in one form or another, spill into our neighborhood, Dahiyeh, the Hezbollah stronghold in south Beirut near the Shatila and Burj el Barajeh Palestinian refugee camps. And now it has with a vengeance

The prisoner hunger strike began on Monday, July 8, with the Los Angeles Times reporting that “ 30,000 inmates refused meals at the start of what could be the largest prison protest in state history,” with prisoners in “two-thirds of the state's 33 prisons” taking part

Like doctors, scientists and engineers have life-and-death decisions in their hands. It has been proposed that graduates in science and engineering should take an oath, analogous to that taken by graduating medical students.They should promise never to use their education in the service of war, nor for the production of weapons, nor in any way that might be harmful to society or to the environment

The graffiti image of Anne Frank wearing a kuffiyeh by Netherlands artist known as ‘T’ has long drawn indignation and controversy though its original intention was related to the fashionable wearing of a kuffiyeh. Recently BDS Amsterdam’s use of the image is rekindling the controversy. Haaretz’s Bradley Bursten complained, “No, those who are affected most directly by the Anne Frank image – and most deeply hurt - are Holocaust survivors and their descendants.”

Eight European countries have banned the production of GM crops: Poland, Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Luxembourg, Greece, and Bulgaria. In nearly 50 countries around the world, including Australia, Japan, and most of the countries in Europe have either banned GM crop production outright, or have put in place extremely tight restrictions on the production and use of GM products

Rape, a weapon of war for centuries, is (allegedly) a favourite tool used by the Ethiopian forces to terrify and intimidate the people of the Ogaden, and we are told other parts of the country, Gambella and Oromo for example

With Venezuela’s inflation rate for May soaring to 6.1%, first quarter growth stagnating at 0.7%, and shortages afflicting a number of basic goods, speculation has been rife regarding the country’s economic future

China's policy of giving free coal for heating to residents in an area north of the Huai River has contributed to shaving 5.5 years off life expectancy there, finds a study. Researchers estimate that the 500 million residents of northern China in the 1990s collectively lost 2.5 billion years from their lives

The death of E.Ilavarsan in Tamilnadu might be a single column report in our newspapers but it has reflected the mindset prevailing in India and deep rooted caste prejudices against the Dalits in our society

Tosa Maidan is a rich pasture located in central Kashmir’s Budgam district. It has been given to Indian army on lease for firearms practice in 1962. Since then, the whole region has flipped backwards several centuries

A groundbreaking new campaign has been launched in India to challenge the deep-seated prejudice that tribal peoples are ‘backwards’ and ‘primitive’. The ‘Proud Not Primitive’ campaign shows that tribal peoples are not stuck in the past, but have every reason to be proud of the self-sufficient and sustainable ways of life which they have developed over generations

Clashes spread throughout Egypt yesterday as security forces cracked down on protests by supporters of Muslim Brotherhood (MB) President Mohamed Mursi, who was ousted in a coup Wednesday. The coup—launched with US support to end mass protests against Mursi and pre-empt the development of a political movement in the working class—now threatens to plunge Egypt into civil war

The Egyptian armed forces have been buttressed since 1979 by U.S. military aid, receiving about $1.3 billion annually since 1987. The money has gone to buy fighter jets, tanks, armored personnel carriers, helicopters and more. The aid, which will keep flowing as long as they maintain a peace treaty with Israel, has helped make the military a formidable force

Many revolutionaries in Egypt have learned a thousand political lessons in a few short years; they will not easily allow the army to usurp their power. The Egyptian revolution is the most powerful revolution in decades and has already re-shaped the Middle East. It will continue to do so until the people’s needs are met

In 2012, Professsor Seralini of the University of Caen in France led a team that carried out research into the health impacts on rats fed GMOs (genetically modified organisms) (1). The two-year long study concluded that rats fed GMOs experienced serious health problems compared to those fed non GM food. Now comes a new major peer-reviewed study that has appeared in another respected journal. This study throws into question the claim often forwarded by the biotech sector that GMO technology increases production and is beneficial to agriculture

The proponents of the Trans Pacific Partnership argue that the TPP would bring huge benefits to Malaysia “with as much as US $ 40 billion (RM 128.4 billion) in annual export gains and US $ 25 billion in annual income gains by 2025.” Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in particular will reap a bonanza. The TPP, it is said, will also “give Malaysia preferential access to a US $ 15 trillion economy, which means access to the US $ 500 billion in US government tenders.”

Some people believe that civilian nuclear energy programs are going great guns and will grow more in future. Nothing can be further from the truth. They will not. In fact, its slow death is already on and can only accelerate in future. Let us understand why

It has seen its reserves fall to around $290 billion from an all-time high of $321 billion in 2011. This is barely enough for 7 months of imports and is down significantly from 2008, when the RBI possessed enough reserves for 15 months of imports. In contrast, the Chinese regime has accumulated a mountain of $3.2 trillion in foreign currency reserves

Over 115 women have signed a letter seeking an apology from Ms. Meenakshi Lekhi for her sexist slandering of deceased Ishrat Jahan in a television channel. The letter has also been sent to the Chairperson of the National Commission for Women for appropriate action

The international community has long been mulling over the impact of climate change on migration. It is high time that climate refugees or environmental migrants get some serious attention, said Susan F. Martin, director of the Institute for the Study of International Migration (ISIM) in Washington, Susan was interviewed by Sudeshna Chowdhury

Regime change is not revolution. Regime change from Mubarak to Morsi to Mansour serves U.S. interests by ensuring continuity, while providing the illusion that meaningful political change has occurred. True revolution and meaningful political change can only be ensured if the U.S.-backed military aristocracy and its neo-liberal economic policies are thrown out, for good

Thus it is the responsibility of the Youth and the liberal, secular, Left, Arab nationalists and religious communities to reach out to all segments of society across religion, gender, class, tribe and sect, engage all the political parties and arrive at a national consensus, for a national vision in every sphere of Egyptian national life. The imposition of either Islamic or liberal values will lead to a lash back, thus both these cultural systems will have to engage and co-exist with one another in an atmosphere of mutual respect and understanding

What is happening or just happened in Egypt could be the first Peak Oil revolution which is sure to replicate many times over in many countries around the world. The root cause of Tahrir I as well as Tahrir II was the economic condition of Egypt which put the middle class and the working classs under severe stress and made life unbearable for them. Tahrir II was directly caused by the widespread fuel shortages and high energy prices

When I posted a photo of just some of the 33 million (!) Egyptian protestors who took the streets in late June, inevitably, the comments led us in the direction of this musing: Why can’t we get even 33 Americans to show up at a rally on a regular basis?

America has invaded 70 countries since its 4th of July Independence Day in 1776. American imperialism has made a major contribution to the 1.3 billion global avoidable deaths in the period 1950-2005. The Neocon American and Zionist Imperialist One Percenters can be seen as the New Nazis. The World, including ordinary Americans (1 million of whom die preventably each year) [10], must shake off the shackles of endless American One Percenter warmongering, imperialism and mendacity. The World must make the Fourth of July Independence from America Day. Tell everyone you can

Baghdad, ancient exotic marvel in the cradle of human civilization, Mesopotamia, 'the land between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers,' where the first cities on Earth were created. Did Independence Day bring uneasy feelings about America eventually being brought to justice for so much firing on the poor overseas and denying other nations independence from subservience to America's Wall Street? Majority Mankind will seek justice

My anti-war memorial Unfinished Portrait attempts to bring audiences face-to-face with the human costs of the US-led invasions and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan—to make the numbers of the dead, and dying, more comprehensible. This art project is always a work-in-progress, and the challenge has been two-fold: how best to communicate the tragedy on all sides of these wars, and how to induce audiences to give as much attention to the invaded victims as they do to the invading victims

New York City Mayor Bloomberg, speaking before last Sunday's gay rights parade, tried to defend his position supporting the NYPD's massive stop and frisk program directed against minority (mostly Black and Hispanic) youth. His remarks were so out of line that the New York Times wrote an editorial (7-2-13) criticizing his "loopy logic" and U.S. Representative Hakeem Jeffries (Dem. N.Y.) was moved to say his comments "were sad, disrespectful, hurtful, and quite unfortunate."

The problem is principally Palestinian and can only be resolved using national platforms that appeal to the individual, free from factionalism, and to the collective, free from the confining symbolism and polarizing discourses. A national debate must start soon so that it can address the Palestinian national identity and truly unite Palestinians around common objectives. This should have already been the case for many years, rather than the investment in fragmentation and self-serving politics

Egypt resumes its perilous journey towards democracy after people power, millions of citizens demonstrating and occupying public places around the country, accelerated the process of suspending an Islamist constitution and ousting of the Islamist president Morsi. Still the democracy journey is uncertain as the top judge of Egypt's Constitutional Court, Adly Mahmud Mansour, was sworn in as interim leader, at the behest of an all powerful army

The ouster of Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi, following four days of nationwide mass protests, has placed power in the hands of a military junta which is committed to the defense of the economic interests of the country’s ruling class and to the geo-political aims of American imperialism

As I was going through all news headlines today, one curious thing struck me, the overthrow of a dictator is being rejoiced with the same vigor of the oust of a democratically elected president! A large section of the citizens has once again taken the streets today to celebrate heralding that they have toppled the power. But what power has been toppled when the country is in the hands of the military in the infancy of its democracy!

Tunisian opposition activists have launched their own version of Egypt 's Rebel, a movement initiated by youth, whose campaign to remove Morsi from presidency drew millions onto the streets and ultimately overthrew Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood

Faced with the difficulty of meeting the economic and political expectations of Tunisians, Ennahda has proven ill-suited to managing the transition period. In the midst of growing societal discontent for and against its rule, the regime has been either unable or unwilling to exercise full control over actors that overstep the laws, nor has it prioritized the protection of civil liberties as promised during its election

Two recent disasters: one in Uttarakhand, India and the other in Arizona, US show us—that not only ecological devastation but also human casualty—arise from climate change. In both cases, those who tried to save lives—lost their lives

Surely a few people walk through U.S. airports while simultaneously living in reality, the reality in which the United States destroyed the nation of Iraq, slaughtered 1.4 million people, created 4.5 million refugees, destroyed the health and education and energy infrastructures, created epidemics of disease and birth defects, traumatized millions of children, and left behind a ruined violent anarchic state cursed with deep divisions previously unknown

In a flagrant breach of international law and diplomatic norms, the Obama administration, in collusion with its European allies, today forced a plane carrying Bolivian President Evo Morales to land in Austria, on suspicion that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden was on board

Politically charged-Egypt begins transition as the Islamist president Morsi loses grip on power after, for the third day, millions of anti-Morsi demonstrators hit the streets across the country to demand the removal of Morsi from power. Violence took more than 21 lives. Morsi and top Muslim Brotherhood leadership face travel ban. The army occupied the state TV building ahead of the 48-hour deadline

Despite decades of planning for Egypt 's eventual transition into an Islamic state, only two years of post-revolution politics appear to have put paid to the Muslim Brotherhood's longed-for Islamist renaissance

In a recent New York Times article David Carr questioned whether someone could be both a journalist and an activist, a question that was prompted by the role of Glenn Greenwald, a writer for The Guardian and a political activist, in reporting on Edward Snowden’s National Security Agency leaks

These tools are too powerful for governments not to use. John Boehner, Dick Cheney and Nancy Pelosi – who agree on nothing – have agreed to defend the legality of the NSA program. That’s positive: the rules of surveillance and the supervision of the snoopers might need to be re-written

The abortion debate in Texas—and throughout the country—has dead-ended: pro-life v. pro-choice, saving the unborn child v. protecting the rights of the mother, responsibility v. freedom. Every encounter leaves each side more dug in

Women stand out as the prime victims of the Aquino regime and patriarchal authority in general. They are discriminated and inferiorized by virtue of gender, caste, class and ethnicity. In 2011, half of the 78 political detainees arrested by the Aquino regime were women

We all saw an awful display of hypocrisy and lying when US President Barack Obama visited Africa this week, giving lip-service to African “freedom” with US-backed military and demonstrators about to overthrow democracy in Egypt, US-backed French forces occupying Mali, US Alliance forces occupying Somalia (2 million refugees and 2.2 million dead from violence or war-imposed deprivation since 1992) and Libya devastated by the US Alliance (0.1 million killed, 1 million refugees )

At the very outset, let us make it clear that we are not fans of your regressive fiction. Therefore, we write to you not as crazy fans but as Indian Muslim youth, who felt utterly patronized, insulted and hurt after reading your article, ‘Letter from an Indian Muslim Youth’ . You might have not realized this, but in pretending to render “a strong modern Indian Muslim voice’’ to the youth and the Muslim community at large, you have ripped them of their agency. You have reaffirmed stereotypes that many in the community have been fighting against

The Egyptian armed forces' 48-hour ultimatum issued on July 1 has made the political situation in the country more complex while the ruling Islamists are witnessing a quick crumbling down of their widely organized political-organizational machine and millions of Egyptians are rallying nationwide demanding the Islamist president Morsi to step down

With the airwaves these days filled with brutal examples of tear gas “democracy” in action it is surely past time for those of us who are looking for a way out of this growing global crisis to begin questioning the very definition of what a “democratic” system of life is really all about

For the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which daily invokes name of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, founder of Bharatiya Jan Sangh - percursor to its present incarnation namely BJP - to oppose Article 370 which guarantees special status to Jammu and Kashmir - this exposure that the said Article had full approval from Mukherjee as well as then Home Minister Sardar Patel is nothing but blasphemous

As millions of people rising against the president Morsi's rule continue occupying the Tahrir Square in Cairo and central squares in other cities and towns in the entire country, political forces have announced an open ended sit-in until “the fall of the regime”. The occupation of the Egyptian squares has begun on June 30, 2013

The question is , is it a counterrevolution as the Islamists says, or , is it a counterattack from the secular forces, the coming hours or days might give a clearer answer to this question, and to the question of where Egypt is going?

The US National Security Agency spied on officials of the European Union, infiltrated its computer network and bugged the EU’s headquarters in Brussels as well as diplomatic offices in Washington DC and New York City, according to a report published by the German magazine Der Spiegel

US whistleblower Edward Snowden appears trapped in a transit zone at the Moscow airport, with plans to travel to Ecuador and seek political asylum disrupted by US government intervention to put pressure on Ecuadorean officials

These days, despite state-corporate control and manipulation of the mainstream media, many see through the charade of today's 'liberal democracy' and the ‘pack of lies' which underpin it. The more the US lacks control over ‘the message', the more it has to resort to violence and restrictions on freedoms. The more paranoid it becomes, the more penetrating and widespread the surveillance and 'information gathering' is. It is the type of insecurity that derives from an empire in decline. It is the type of oppression that derives from an empire that is ideologically and militarily fighting for its continued existence

Modern science has abolished time and distance as factors separating nations. On our shrunken globe today, there is room for one group only: the family of humankind. We must embrace all other humans as our brothers and sisters. More than that, we must feel that all of nature is part of the same sacred family; meadow flowers, blowing winds, rocks, trees, birds, animals, and other humans, all these are our brothers and sisters, deserving our care and protection. Only in this way can we survive together. Only in this way can we build a happy future

Do you want to learn to live in a world of oppression, or build a movement to end oppression? The philosphy of nonviolence is not geared to defeating oppression, but rather to something else--avoiding getting one's hands "dirty" with violence. Given the choice between defeating oppression and avoiding violence, it opts for avoiding violence. You don't really make this choice, do you?

In the midst of a racist media onslaught vilifying Rachel Jeantel – including in the The Orlando Sentinel itself - the Sentinel has refused to publish the anti-racist "We Say No More!" statement on Trayvon Martin's killing as a paid ad, claiming it's "inflammatory" and "is more of an opinion rather than a substantiated fact and therefore [we] are unable to publish the ad in its present form."